GIRLS TRIP

SYNOPSIS:
Old friends Ryan (Regina Hall), Sasha (Queen Latifah), Lisa (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Dina (Tiffany Haddish) head to New Orleans for a weekend of fun at the annual Essence Festival. What will happen when they let their hair down?

Review by Louise Keller:Bridesmaids for black people, Girls Trip is high energy raucous fun in praise of girl-power, complete with brash, crude dialogue and sexual connotations. It could well be the surprise runaway hit of the season. Malcolm D. Lee's direction is so smooth, the film washes down like a sweet cocktail with a giggle reflex, but leave your prudish maiden aunt at home. If There's Something About Mary is defined by its hair gel scene, the talking point here is grapefruiting, complete with outrageous instruction demonstration, featuring Tiffany Haddish in a scene stealing performance.

The premise is simple enough - a weekend away for old college friends, 'The Flossy Posse'. There's a lovely vibe between the girls and it looks as though they had a whale of a time making the film. Sasha (Queen Latifah, with hair that constantly changes from straight to curly) makes a controversial living exposing celebrities. Dina (Haddish) is trouble with a capital T: she drinks, speaks her mind and acts without thinking. Single mum Lisa (Jada Pinkett Smith, dwarfed by the others) needs to get laid - according to her friends. And there is Ryan (Regina Hall), the successful author who supposedly has it all, but of course we know better.

The dialogue and set pieces set the tone with references to camel toe, Absinthe, Brazilian waxing, bladder control (or lack thereof), male genitalia, gag reflexes and sausages. As for the men: they are all portrayed as sex objects. Watch for the scene in which Ryan gives a public cooking demonstration involving a sausage as her adulterous football star husband (Mike Colter) and his well endowed Instagram model girlfriend (Deborah Ayorinde) watch in dismay.

There are cat-fights, group hugs, male nudity and plenty of booty-shaking as Lee effortlessly slides from one crazy, raunchy moment to the next. Get ready for two hours of contagious, zany, raunchy fun in the chick flick of the moment. Friendship, seizing the moment and being true to yourself has never been so outrageous.